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W.. H. HOTTEL. Alarm Attachment for Grist-Mills.

No. 225,136. Patented Mar. 2, IS80 y WITNBSSE @@@f Y IN VENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

N-FETERS, FHOT0-L1THOGRAFHER WASHINGTON. C,

UNITED STATES PATENT Prien@ WILLIAM H. HOTTEL, OF-WOODSTOOK, VIRGINIA.

ALARM ATTACHMENT FOR GRIST-MILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 225,136, dated March 2, 1880. Application led October 4, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. HOTTEL, of Woodstock, in the countyl of Shenandoah and State of Virginia, have invented a new and Improved Alarm Attachment for Grist- Mills and other Machinery; and I do hereby declare that the following 1s a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming 'part of this specification, in which the figure is a side elevation.

The object of my invention is to provide a practical device for giving notice to the miller or attendant oi' the machinery of any irregularities in speed incident to therunning oi' said machinery. In milling operations irregularities are liable to occur from the choking of the burrs, the absence of grain in the stock-hop per, the heating of the spindle at foot or collar, and various other circumstances. Prior to the adoption of improved mill machinery the noise of the burrs was chiefly relied uponA in ascertaining the condition of the mill 5 but the commingled noises incident to the adoption of improved machinery, such as middlings-puriiiers, bran-clusters, scourers, Steamers, grainseparators, &c., render it impossible to hear the action of the burrs at any considerable distance.

My invention is designed to give a distinct alarm for indicating the irregularity of speed, whether in a mill or other class of machinery, which alarm may be heard at any part of the mill, or which, by the aid of a telephone, may be heard at an office, residence, or other point remote from the machinery.

My invention is an improvement upon an alarm for this purpose patented January 14, 1862, by E. Clark, in which an ordinary ballgovernor is connected to the mill-spindle so as to be rotated thereby, and the rising-and-falling collar or cross-head of the governoris made, when rising above a given point or falling below such point, to strike against a springlever, whose other end carries a hammer and strikes a bell to sound an alarm, which indicates any increase or decrease in the speed of the burrs arising from irregular condition. This general construction secured the desired effectfor one given speed; but as itis necessary to run machinery sometimes continuously slow or continuously fast, some provision for adjusting the alarm device to this change without the incessant ringing of the bells is practically necessary.

In accomplishing this result, my invention consists'in combining with the rising-and-falling collar or cross-head a rin ging-lever mounted on an adjustable fulcrum, so that the fulcrum of the lever may be raised when the machinery is to run continuously at a faster rate of speed than its normal adjustment provides for, and so that the fulcrum may be lowered when the machinery is to run continuously at a slower rate.

In the drawing, A represents a spindle having a pulley, a, which, by means of a belt, b, is connected with the spindle of the running burr or other running portion ofthe machinery. Upon the upper portion of the spindle A is fixed a cap, to which are jointed the arms c c, carrying governor-balls d d. To these arms c are also jointed the links a e, which at their lower ends are jointed to a collar-,13, which rotates with the governor, and rises and falls as the balls rise and fall from an increase or diminution of the speed.

C is therin ging-lever, which is mounted upon a fulcrum near its middle, and is constructed at its end next to the governor with a forked end ff, having a slot between. The normal position of this lever upon its fulcrum is such that when the machineryis running at its usual speed the collar B is on a level with the end of the lever C, and a stud or tappet, g, on the collar will pass through the .slot between the forks ff of the lever, and the latter is not disturbed. When, however, the collar rises or falls, from the irregular running of the machinery, as shown in dotted lines, the tappet g, in rising above or falling below the slot between the forks ff, strikes one or the other of -said forks and deilects the lever against the tension of a spring, h, which latter, vafter the tappet has passed, throws the lever in the opposite direction and causes the hammer at the outer end to strike the bell D, sounding an alarm thereon as long as the speed varies from the normal. Now, as it is sometimes required to run the machinery continuously at ahigh rate of speed or continuously at alow rate of speed,- in such case the alarm mechanism would have IOO to be disconnected or thrown ont to avoid the incessant ringing of the bell, in which event the attachment would be of no use. To provide for this change in the speed, I mount the lever C upon an adjustable fulcrum, E, which is raised or lowered by a screw-rod, j, passing through a suitable frame-work and held between clamping-nuts k k. This provision, it will be seen, allows the slot in the end of the lever to be adjusted to the level of any rate of speed which is to be constantly maintained.

By means of the invention herein described it will be seen that, as applied to a mill, the following` irregularities are corrected: If the feed becomes choked so that there is no grain in the stock-hopper, the speed is increased and the alarm is immediately sounded; it' the burr becomes choked with too much grain or middlings, the speed of the mill is reduced and or cross-head with proj ecting,` tappet, combined Y with a `bell-ringing` lever mounted upon a verticallyadjustable fnlcrum, substantially as and for the purpose described.

WILLIAM HENRY HOTTEL. Vitnesses G. W. KooN'rz, A. J AoKsoN. 

